Ogun: Two Down As Cultists Operate In Broad Daylight, Ignore Gov Abiodun’s Threat

According to the DAILY POST, the previously calm Ogun State is progressively becoming a “battlefield” where cults carry out their evil activities with no restrictions.

Cultists and other criminal organizations have recently defied the police and the state administration by killing and maiming their victims in broad sight.

This is despite the governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, threatening to deal harshly with cultists, demolish their homes, and prosecute their parents.

“If I catch anybody engaging in cultism, the person, his parents and their house will be severely dealt with.

“Any house where a cultist is discovered will be demolished. Parents should warn their children because it is going to be tough.

“Our state is adjudged the most peaceful state in this country. Without peace, there cannot be meaningful socio-economic development. So, we will deal decisively with anyone that wants to disturb our peace in this state,” the governor seriously warned recently.

Cult fights were a regular occurrence in Ogun, especially in Abeokuta, the state capital, and Ijebu-Ode, indicating that the governor’s threat had little effect on the cultists.

Abiodun has recognized that cultism is one of the State’s security challenges. He did, however, feel that “cult activities have now abated due to the collaborative efforts of the Nigeria Police, the State Security Services, and the Nigerian Army,” and that “cult activities have now abated.”

However, the current reality in Ogun did not match Abiodun’s claim that cult confrontations in the state were subsiding. This is because the cultists, who had previously carried out their murderous battles at night, had suddenly grown bolder, chasing a victim on a motorcycle till he was slashed to death at Kuto around 2:30pm on Tuesday.

On the same day, a young man merely known as Alagbole was killed in front of traders and passers-by on Elite road in Abeokuta by the same group of people.

The cultists plunged Abeokuta into disarray by parading through the city on three motorcycles, armed with lethal weapons, with no respect for security agents.

The police in Ogun State have confirmed the alarming occurrence that has left many people shaken, adding that some of those responsible have been apprehended.

While acknowledging that one person was killed on Elite Road, Oyeyemi stated that he had yet to receive information about the Kuto tragedy.

However, a trustworthy source told our correspondent that the okada rider who was hacked at Kuto had his body placed at an Abeokuta mortuary.

The deaths, according to Oyeyemi, could hardly be unrelated to the cult organizations’ typical struggle for supremacy.

Gov. Abiodun was in Lagos yesterday as the killings in Abeokuta were taking place, illustrating how the state had dealt with violence and made Ogun safe for investors under his watch.

Abiodun addressed at the Nigeria Police Force, Zone II Headquarters, Onikan, Lagos, 2021 Capacity Building Workshop for security agencies in Lagos and Ogun States.

Local vigilantes, Community Development Associations, and the Amotekun Corps, he claimed, have been integrated into the state security architecture to improve the efficiency and efficacy of policing in Ogun.

He stated that if more jobs were produced and more adolescents were empowered, the country’s current instability might be reduced to the bare minimum.

“Arming the police and military isn’t the only way to combat insecurity. Insecurity, poverty, education, drug misuse, and all other socioeconomic indicators are linked. As far as equipping the police is beneficial, as we have done in Ogun. It’s critical that we consider all of the available options for reducing unemployment,” he continued.

Because the national police would not be able to handle the vast security difficulties in all regions of the country, state-based security agencies, according to Abiodun, were developed to deal with unique security challenges.

“Governor Dapo Abiodun announced open 2021 Capacity Building for Nigeria Police Force in Lagos with the theme: ‘Internal security operations under a democratic dispensation,’” a local, Michael Ogunsiji, said of the security concerns in Ogun.

“But, his home state, cultists are having field days carrying arms and other dangerous weapons freely without any disturbance; killing two people at Elite road and Kuto today in broad daylight. Yet, some ‘no brainers’ are saying Ogun is safe in the hand of the Governor.

“If this can happen in the state capital without anyone challenging these criminals and other security threats, what would be the faith of the rural settlers?

“Mr. Governor, the killings are getting too much. You need to wake up and do something.

“Residents of Sapon, Oke-Ijemo, Ake, Ijemo, Ago-Oko, Oke Lantoro, Leme, Mokola, Saje, Ajitadun, Arinlese, Oju Ogbara, Ijaiye, Ilugun cannot sleep with their two eyes closed.

“It has worsened to the extent that, residents and shop owners of these areas have to close their businesses as soon it is 7pm for fear of cultists attacks.”

Meanwhile, other residents of Abeokuta have called on Abiodun to make good his threat by waging serious way against cultism and other acts of criminality in the State, especially kidnapping which the governor himself has identified as another challenge.

One Dayo Akanbi narrated how cultists trouble places like Ijemo, Ilogbo, Ago Oko, Isale Ake, Ejigbo, Oke Lantoro and others, asking the police and government to take action.

He said, “There is no more security in Abeokuta again. On daily basis, cultists engage in clashes, fighting and killing one another. They are even using the opportunity to rob people in places around Abeokuta. The government should do something before everything gets out of hand.”

In his word, a commentator, Akorode Khameel, asked, “Where were the security operatives when these cultists were butchering an Okada rider without getting disturbed right in the act?”

Khameel spoke further that, “Talk of the spate of insecurity again in the state and the country in general. How did we get here? I know cultists have no regard for values but, what about laws? Now people will start living in perpetual fear. The government should please make Abeokuta and other areas in the state safe for us.”

David Adegbola suggested that Ogun government should set up a joint security patrol, involving the police and the military.

“I think there should be a joint task patrol in the state, especially Abeokuta metropolis. It is not until an election is coming before joint task force patrol should come up. Also, it should be made up of police, the Army, Navy and other security agencies.”